Michelle Evans Drake, Billy Berg and David Christian of The Law braved the early morning cool weather, yet flat, beautiful seas to go wahoo fishing at the Blackjack Hole. The 64 lb wahoo they came back with made the trip worth while.

Everyone who has made the ride to the Blackjack on a cool morning knows how good it feels to bundle up in a bean bag chair and catch some z's. Man that is some goooood sleeping!

There is a video, but I can't post it because you can hear Michelle layn' down the law to Billy!

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The conditions this morning were great as we arrived to the 100/400 with flat calm seas and water temps of 73-74 degrees- apparently the fish didn't get the memo? We set out and after about 20 minutes a weighted line was taken and we were hooked up. John Richardson Sr. went to work and after a hard fought battle, landed a 40.5 pound Wahoo. The day was young and things were looking up. From there however, the action go SLOW. We caught quite a few small False Albacore on the tuna feathers I had set on the long riggers and we pulled off a good Wahoo bite, but by noon I was struggling for answers. I made my way to the Black Jack hole which was now vacant as all the boats that started there in the AM had moved on to the Steeples. The winds had picked up to 15kts or better and the sharp 2-4 foot chop made trolling a bit tougher. As I pulled down "main street" I noticed a slick on the water and made a turn, passing downwind and catching the unmistakable scent of fish. As I circled back into the sea the long rigger feather was taken and this time by a decent fish. John Jr. went to work and after a tense boatside "tuna style" struggle, he brought a nice Blackfin aboard. It was the fourth quarter and we were in rally mode. But it was getting pretty sloppy. We set again and made another pass up main street and just as I reached the top end the planer rod went off and we stayed connected to an obvious high-speed Wahoo. John Jr. again did the honors and angled a 39.6 pound Wahoo to the gaff. Now we were moving in the right direction. We had about 30 more minutes to fish, and one more good fish would put the ledger back in our favor. Another pass up main street and the planer rod again went off, this time however it was the oh too familiar screaming reel followed by sudden silence- pulled hooks. Arghhh! We reset and fished a bit longer, but did not get another shot. We ended up with 2 nice Hoos and a Blackfin - I think we had in total 7-8 solid Wahoo bites, which is pretty consistent with my .300 Wahoo batting average. The Richardsons were great sports and they never lost hope and stayed confident. It was a good day of mediocre fishing that at least ended on a relative up note. Not sure what it translates to for 2012, but I'm sure its my last offshore trip of the year.

It was nice to see quite a few other fishermen on the water in the Stream as well. The action for everyone seemed pretty consistent, with the Steeples sounding like the best, albeit not hot.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope to see more of you on the water more often in 2012- make it a resolution- GO FISH !

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Carolina Cat will be headed to the Black Jack tomorrow AM - we'll be on VHF 6 and 19 -- I'm not going to jinx things, but I am cautiously optomistic. We'll be leaving OIFC at 6am, so should be there around 8-8:30am -- give us a call on VHF -- stay tuned for report.
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Capt. Brant McMullan

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Rickey reported on it last week but I finally got some good pictures and the info from the angler himself on the 100.4 pound Wahoo caught from our area. Congratulations !!!!

Fished with my dad, Bill Berg, on Monday December 19th on our boat "Fin Addict IV" out of Little River SC and headed offshore to the blackjack to wahoo fish. First bite was as soon as we began getting lines out. Small blackfin tuna on a black and purple skirt. 12:30 center long line starts screaming, 25 minute fight later we boat what turns out to be a 100.4 pound wahoo. Weighed it at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club certified scale. Caught the fish on a blue and white ilander with a ballyhoo in 350 foot of water.

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Capt. Barrett and I made an attempt at a showing at this past weekend's inshore tournament - the possibility of dethroning Brandon Sauls from his Trout pedestal was worth the effort -- BUT, it was all for naught. Brandon edged out Brian and Austin Aycock for first place honors with a 3 pound Trout and thus continued his reign as Trout Master. Brandon is basking in his own glory, a true legend in his own mind... but he has held his crown firm for some time and credit is deserved. He has nearly lost his wife, his kids and job to his pursuit at repeating as OIFC Rodeo Trout Champ, but he currently holds the lead with a 6 pound Trout. There are just a few days until the end of the year and the opportunity to take down the OIB Trout Master. Congrats to Brandon Sauls and Kyle Hughes for winning the weekend's tournament.

Below are a couple of pictures that prove even a couple of old offshore fishermen can find a few acorns in the forest --

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Brunswick Co. had wind gusts of 60mph today. So obviously no one went out fishing. The OIFC's resident near shore sea conditions reporter Joanne Bouffard provided these pictures of the Bird Island side of the Little River Jetties this morning.
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Capt. Rickey Beck

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Let me begin by explaining that a computer glitch prevented me from posting reports. That said, I am glad to report that the Capt. Rickey's Specktacular Christmas Tournament was a roaring success and loads of fun. The winner was Brandon "Bonecrusher" Sauls, the humble, self professed "God of Trout" with a 3 lb trout. Bone Crusher eked out Team "Real Deal" by .1oz. However Austin Aycock of the "Real Deal" won Jr. Angler.

Dr. Clay Morphes hosted an awards banquet at his palatial riverfront home. The attendees feasted on homemade clam chowder, pork tenderloin, tons of finger foods as well as a plethora of beverages. A special thank you to the Morphes family for their hospitality and to the OIFC for hosting the event.

Bonecrusher was presented with $400 cash while Austin Aycock won $50. The check in the picture shows $350, but a late entry not noted by the Treasurer boosted the take.

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Day One of Captain Rickey's Specktacular Christmas Tournament is in the books. The wind shifted last night which made in shore fishing less than desirable for the teams who decided to fish on day one.

At the end of the day, Brian Aycock was on top with a 2.9 lb trout. After the weigh in closed hie crew went back out and absolutely slayed the trout. Captain Jacob Frick caught a lot of fish, but they were all too small.

As for team Tale Chaser, we checked a couple of spots, but they just didn't look fishy. So we anchored up on the mainland side of the fenders at the Ocean Isle Bridge and caught ten red drum in about as many minutes using live shrimp under a cork. We tossed the bait beside the pylon in the exact same place and as soon as it hit the water, the cork went under. Camdyn and Caroline displayed superior skills reeling the reds in. The ladies were about to freeze so we finished our day at the OIFC.

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After much consternation, the Christmas Trout Tournament is on! This is a pick your day format. Fish either Christmas Eve or the day after Christmas. There are no boundaries. Lines in at 7am and you must be in the weigh in line by 4pm. The weigh in is at the OIFC dock.

There will be an informal Captains meeting at the OIFC around 6pm on Friday. The OIFC will be closed so bring your own beverages and/or snacks.

The entry fee is $50.00. You can drop it by the OIFC, just tell them what it's for or preferably bring it to the Captains meeting. You don't have to be at the Captains' meeting but you will be responsible for the info covered at the meeting and may miss a good time.

All the entry fees will go directly to the prise money. The pay out will be 1st-50%, 2nd 30% and 3rd 20%. There will also be a 1st place trophy and a prize. Clay Morphes is having an awards banquet and dinner at his house on the Shallotte River after the final weigh in. All anglers, their families and/or significant others are invited.

If there are any changes before the Captains meeting I'll post them. I guess for legal reasons, I should say that this is not an OIFC tournament, but Brant has given his full support.

Any questions, get with me, Brian Aycock or Clay Morphes. Don't ask Brant or any of the other OIFC Staff because they won't know the answers Hope to see you then!

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Wade and Bert joined me for a half day of fishing this morning. We started off looking for a few trout and found a few keepers. As the tide continued to rise we eased back into the grass looking for the reds. We spotted a few, but the wind was making it difficult. I drilled a nice one...but the action was slow, so we headed to a secondary area. The tide was not quite right for the reds just yet, so we headed for a trout hole. The trout were still there...we landed 10 to 15 trout, but only picked up one more keeper. We switched to our redfish outfits with heavier line to sneak back up on the reds. With a few cast we had a double hook up! Wade made quick work of a nice 24" red, because he switched to the right outfit. Unfortunely, Bert got a little confused and picked up another trout outfit with only 6# test line on it. No problem! Bert did an awesome job angling a 25" brute of a redfish to the boat on just six pound test line. It takes a little luck and a lot of skill to pull this off. Who knows, Bert is a pastor and I'll bet he had a little more than luck on his side. We made another sneak into the area and Wade drilled another nice red that was released to fight another day. Another great day on the water, with great company. Thanks guys for fishing with us! See ya on the water!
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Capt. Jacob Frick

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Well..... after a couple of hours of sitting on solid ground and analyzing the fishing trip, I am ready to talk. Here is the one thing you can take away for sure, the middle of the ocean is no place to be in the middle of the night in 15-20 knot winds. It is just not fun. And of course, that is where we were. Here is how it all went down.

We loaded up and left the OIFC at 9:30am on Monday (Brant, Barrett, Steele). We ran 70 miles to a warm water eddy just north of the Steeples. The radio talk was of hot action as several boats were all ready working the area. The seas were near calm, but a 10kt SW wind had begun to blow. We set out and immediately missed a bite. We continued on and the long rigger went down, Steele did battle. At boatside it was a tuna, but looked awful big to be a Blackfin. The gaff was delivered and the heavens opened up and low and behold a Yellowfin Tuna was boated- yes, Yellowfin Tuna- check the pic below- NOT a Blackfin. We trolled on and caught a Wahoo and a couple Blackfin and missed a couple good bites. All the while the SW wind was creeeping up to 15kts with a light 3 foot chop. Everyone headed home except us. We looked at eachother and the decision was made to go ahead. We picked up lines at 4:30pm and ran 20 miles offshore to 1200 feet. We pretty much just set up in the blind, no specific area. We set out a spread of 4 lines ranging from 300-100 feet deep rigged with Squid and Boston Mackerel. At 6:45 the 200 foot depth bait was taken and the rod bent over. Barrett went to work, but there wasn't much fish there. However, in the darkness, the glow from our green Hydro Glo revealed a Swordfish- small, roughly 30-40 pounds, but a Swordfish; and the night was young. We were pumped for a night of red hot fishing. It was not to be. As the night wore on, the wind steady increased to 20 knots, seas a choppy 3-4 feet. It was not terrible rough, but in the pitch black darness, it is very uncomfortable. Steele (aka "Cookie") fired up the Coleman grill and cooked us Ribeye steaks for dinner, that was nice. Afterwards we were in and out of sleep. At 2am the 300 foot depth rod bent over and Barrett was again on the rod. He fought the fish for a couple of minutes before the hook pulled. Barrett said he felt like the fish was about to make a run, but its size was underterminable. At 4:30, we were all pretty much asleep when the Tiagra 30W set at 100 feet started smoking off line. Steele grabbed the rod and there was definitely something substantial on the end. Steele struggled for about a minute, losing line the whole time before again the hook pulled. We were using about 12-15 pounds of drag, but obviously we have something to learn about keeping them on the hook. Anyway, daybreak finally came at 6am and we began packing up. The wind was still a steady 20 knots and it was crappy. We ran back toward the Steeples and set out Wahoo lines. The current was strong into the wind and trolling was miserable. We missed one Wahoo and caught a few False Albacore before our fun meter was finally pegged out- it was time to come home!

There were many lessons learned through the adventure. And yes, it was an adventure, regardless of how successful. We take our experiences and mold them so that next time we can go back and do better. Not many great things are achieved without some sacrifice. We did sacrifice ourselves last night, but now I'm more determined than ever- I will be back!

Oh yes, there have been a few Bluefin Tuna landed off Morehead the last 2 days. There are a ton of jumbo Pogys on the Frying Pan Shoal and the conditions look right. Stay tuned as we hope to hear of fish in our area very soon.

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Trask Cunningham sent these pictures of a wahoo that was caught while fishing with Kevin Sneed. They also caught blackfin tuna. There's no need to state what skirt they were using because a picture says a 1,000 words.
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Capt. Rickey Beck

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Billy Berg and dad, Bill enjoyed a beautiful day listening to good music and experiencing the father-son relationship fishing aboard their "Fin Addict IV". The morning started with catching a blackfin on a black and purple skirted ballyhoo east of the Blackjack.

About 12:30 pm they hooked up with THE wahoo in 350 ft of water on a surface bait with a blue and white Islander. The hoo tipped the at the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club on their certified scales at a whopping 100.4 lbs.

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I was invited to go to the gulf stream, but had obligations that kept me close to home today. I couldn't stand it anymore and had to get on the water for a few hours. Tide was approaching high, so we slipped into the grass marsh behind Sunset looking to push a few reds. Indeed, we pushed several schools in all sizes up and down the oyster bars. We immediately got a few of the smaller ones to strike. We scattered the school pretty good and pushed them far back into the grass. We moved on to find a small school of nice ones. Ben hooked up and fought a nice upper slot red until the shallow oyster bars cut the line. We moved on around and found a huge school with some nice ones in the mix. Double hook up! I landed my nice upper slot red while Ben again ended up in the shells. This group stayed together for a bit and gave us a few more shots. I picked up another nice one and a short. Finally, they busted up and headed deep. We kept sneaking around and looking hard when we spotted another large school with some nice fish grouped together. Ben immediately hooked into a nice one! He landed it! He landed it! Awesome job! Persistence and patience pays off. I will leave you with a video and a picture of Ben's best redfish yet! See ya on the water!

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Captain Zach Faulkner sent me this picture of the wahoo caught by the Get Floor'd 36 ft Contender today (Monday). The crew was fishing in 180 ft of water. The temperature was 73.6 degrees and they were fishing a ballyhoo with a Captain Zach handmade lure.

Zach reported that Captains Brant, Barrett and Steele were seeing some good action also. They stayed overnight so we should get a report from them in a day or so. The Get Floor'd will be heading back out early Tuesday morning.